Nothing Like Trying New Things - Enamels

Which seems to be what's on my plate these days.  Always something new and wonderful and fun to explore.  I've been so excited at the torch since starting up again it's almost too good to be true - for me anyway.  lol !  Still so much to explore in this fabulous medium of glass.  Maybe I should say of melting glass.  :)  A never ending learning experience.  


Enamels is what has had my total attention this week.  Just playing with them and seeing what they can do.  Boy, can they do ALOT !  Depending on the look you want, it's amazing what glass in powder form is capable OF doing.  I see lots of experimenting happening that's for sure !  lol !  So far this week, I've tried several methods of using them and my most favorite right now is just rolling a bead in the solid color.  The colors are so intense and when  melted into a bead, oh it's just gorgeous !  Nothing like glass in rod form.  There is even some texture to it which gives a bead a new dimension.    The blown bead just below is one color called Brilliant Blue and ohhh, it's just gorgeous !  The color I mean.  Just one color.  I just wanted to see what a single color on a bead looked like.  Yum ! 

 I will be making many more single color beads, blown and just regular, with these enamels.  I LOVE the intensity of the colors.
















I also made a set !  Wow !  That is a rarity for me to be sure !  lol !  I'm just not a set person but this style kinda needed to be a set.  So just below is yet another 2 methods of using enamels.  In stringer form and lightly dipping. 

I'm also not a flower person (can't make them too well) but I wanted to see this method with stringers in person.  It was talked about in a thread on a glass forum I visit regularly.  Turns out, I love using the enamels in stringer form.  On the white base glass, you can see a sort of shading happening and that's just cool.  :)  I made the tiny flowers then randomly dotted green just to fill in.  I should of made a vine cane but I didn't.  Next time.  :)

I will be playing with these enamels alot more in the days ahead.   Thing is, that probably won't be too much longer.........Spring is here.  The Bradford Pear trees are blooming, the daffodils bloomed WEEKS ago, other colorful trees are now blooming as well.  This all means that -  soon - we will be bombarded with YELLOW POLLEN !  ICK !  Which means no open windows - which means no torching until the yellow ick passes.  Sigh.  My intentions are good in that during that time, I'm going to try and make some jewelry with some of the beads I have made..............

Thanks so much for coming by !  I hope you come back again soon to check out what's happening in my little corner of the world.  :)